The "tiny house" trend has only grown in recent years as more DIYers downsize into smaller, more efficient living spaces. In Microshelters, Derek “Deek” Diedricksen (you might have seen him on HGTV) presents 59 diminutive dwellings, from cabins and houses to more unusual studios, huts, and trailers. In addition to a gallery of charming color photos, Diedricksen also provides six microstructure building plans, complete with advice about tools, materials, and budgeting. Though it skims over some practical concerns -- try Ryan Mitchell's Tiny House Living if you need to know more about building codes -- Microshelters will spark big ideas for tiny homes.

As a chef, test cook, and food writer, Kenji López-Alt has exactly the right background for culinary mythbusting. Suspicious of conventional kitchen wisdom, López-Alt applied scientific scrutiny to hundreds of common dishes, leading to this textbook-sized (yet wonderfully accessible) book of best practices. Offering tried-and-true techniques for preparing basics such as omelets, chicken stock, and all kinds of potatoes, López-Alt manages to be both funny and info-dense, while avoiding pitfalls like hard-to-find ingredients or daunting instructions. Library Journal calls The Food Lab an "indispensable kitchen manual" -- Alton Brown aficionados and other curious cooks will agree.

Part memoir, part cookbook, Voracious is butcher-turned-blogger Cara Nicoletti's loving homage to her two passions: reading and cooking. In it, she describes the books that have shaped her life, and pairs each with a related recipe. Readers who go along for this delicious ride can relive comforting childhood stories with cacio e pepe from the Strega Nona picture books or salted chocolate caramels inspired by Anne of Green Gables; indulge more adult tastes with Middlesex olive oil yogurt cake or Gone Girl brown butter crepes; and flirt with the macabre by making porchetta di testa in honor of Lord of the Flies or fava bean mousse from Silence of the Lambs -- don't worry, it's served with chicken liver.

Gardeners who are weary of weeding, take note! This "unusual, thought-provoking approach to horticulture" (Booklist) could change your mind about self-seeding plants. With careful planning and a watchful eye, invasive self-seeders can be tamed into lavish, eye-catching gardens that yield quick results with minimal cost. Still doubtful? You might not be after seeing the stunning, vibrantly colored photos in this volume. Providing strategies for plot preparation, soil maintenance, and seed dispersal, as well as a useful list of self-seeders, Cultivating Chaos invites both beginning and experienced gardeners to go a little wild.

You may not be able visit Zahav, the Philadelphia restaurant started by award-winning chef Michael Solomonov, but with this debut cookbook (co-written with Steven Cook), you can recreate Solomonov's Israeli-inspired food in your own kitchen. After mastering the tehina sauce that appears in recipes throughout the book, you can browse through the nine different ingredient-based sections, sampling approachable yet mouthwatering recipes from various regions and traditions. In addition to dishes like kibbe, beluga lentil soup, and Persian wedding rice, you'll also find baked goods such as rugelach, babka, and honey cake. For another diverse taste of modern Israel, pick up Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's Jersusalem.

The Vegetable Gardener's Book of Building Projects shows home gardeners how to build their way to better plants -- and save a little green, too. A well-illustrated visual introduction to tools and techniques prepares gardeners to successfully tackle any one of the 39 clever projects described here -- a simple wood-framed raised bed enclosure is a great place to start. From there, home veggie patch enthusiasts will love boosting their crops' beauty, health, and yield with custom-built planters, trellises, cold frames, and much more. Barbara Pleasant's Easy Garden Projects to Make, Build, and Grow offers many other excellent, equally green-thumbed DIY ideas.

Outdoor living enthusiasts of various skill levels will embrace this handy guidebook for building garden structures, many of them from scratch. The benefits of this book over others lie in the range of projects -- covering everything from a simple hoop house to a Victorian-style greenhouse -- and the photo-illustrated demos to guide you through every step, from planning to completion. Whatever the size and style of your home and landscape, you'll be inspired to expand it to the outdoors after leafing through this "inspiring and instructive guide" (Booklist).

If you're a homesteader (either rural or urban), you don't want to miss this collection of do-able DIY projects for backyards and small-scale farms. The 10 projects included here meet a lot of different needs: you can learn to build a rainwater collection system, assemble a vermiculture bin full of soil-enhancing worms, construct a compost box, and build structures to house plants or microlivestock (can't forget those bees and bunnies!). Clear instructions and lively interviews with experts add both variety and interest to this highly practical volume.

The possibilities offered by greenhouses are vast, making greenhouse growing both attractive and confusing to newcomers. The Greenhouse Gardener's manual takes some of the uncertainty out of the process, walking you through selecting the right structure, plants, growing methods, and maintenance for whatever you have in mind; after all, you wouldn't want a greenhouse with the lighting and temperature for succulents if hydroponic veggies are your goal. Anyone interested in extending their growing season can benefit from this comprehensive tool -- there's even advice on starting a commercial greenhouse for gardeners with a more entrepreneurial bent.

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